Chemical-plant Explosion Kills 2, Injures Almost 70

The World - In Brief

January 21, 2004

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Blasts rocked a chemical plant in Indonesia on Tuesday, sparking a series of fires at the complex that killed two people and injured nearly 70 others, police and hospital officials said. It was not immediately clear what caused the afternoon blast at PT Petro Widada in the town of Gresik, said a local police official, but preliminary reports indicated it was an accident, possibly caused by an electrical short circuit.